1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a perpendicular recording magnetic head with a write shield magnetically coupled to a first pole piece and, more particularly, to such a head which employs ferromagnetic studs magnetically coupling the write shield to the first pole piece.
2. Description of the Related Art
The heart of a computer is a magnetic disk drive which includes a rotating magnetic disk, a slider that has write and read heads, a suspension arm and an actuator arm. When the disk is not rotating the actuator arm locates the suspension arm so that the slider is parked on a ramp. When the disk rotates and the slider is positioned by the actuator arm above the disk, air is swirled by the rotating disk adjacent an air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider causing the slider to ride on an air bearing a slight distance from the surface of the rotating disk. When the slider rides on the air bearing the actuator arm positions the write and read heads over selected circular tracks on the rotating disk where field signals are written and read by the write and read heads. The write and read heads are connected to processing circuitry that operates according to a computer program to implement the writing and reading functions.
A write head is typically rated by its areal density which is a product of its linear bit density and its track width density. The linear bit density is the number of bits which can be written per linear inch along the track of the rotating magnetic disk and the track width density is the number of tracks that can be written per inch along a radius of the rotating magnetic disk. The linear bit density is quantified as bits per inch (BPI) and the track width density is quantified as tracks per inch (TPI). The linear bit density depends upon the length of the bit along the track and the track width density is dependent upon the width of the second pole tip at the ABS. Efforts over the years to increase the areal density have resulted in computer storage capacities increasing from kilobytes to megabytes to gigabytes.
The magnetic moment of each pole piece of a write head is parallel to the ABS and to the major planes of the layers of the write head. When the write current is applied to the coil of the write head the magnetic moment rotates toward or away from the ABS, depending upon whether the write signal is positive or negative. When the magnetic moment is rotated from the parallel position, magnetic flux fringing between the pole pieces writes a positive or a negative bit in the track of the rotating magnetic disk. As the write current frequency is increased, the linear bit density is also increased. An increase in the linear bit density is desirable in order to increase the aforementioned areal density which increase results in increased storage capacity.
There are two types of magnetic write heads. One type is a longitudinal recording write head and the other type is a perpendicular recording write head. In the longitudinal recording write head the flux induced into first and second pole pieces by a write coil fringes across a write gap layer, between the pole pieces, into the circular track of the rotating magnetic disk. This causes an orientation of the magnetization in the circular disk to be parallel to the plane of the disk which is referred to as longitudinal recording. The volume of the magnetization in the disk is referred to as a bit cell and the magnetizations in various bit cells are antiparallel so as to record information in digital form. The bit cell has a width representing track width, a length representing linear density and a depth which provides the volume necessary to provide sufficient magnetization to be read by a sensor of the read head. In longitudinal recording magnetic disks this depth is somewhat shallow. The length of the bit cell along the circular track of the disk is determined by the thickness of the write gap layer. The write gap layer is made as thin as practical so as to decrease the length of the bit cell along the track which, in turn, increases the linear bit density of the recording. The width of the second pole tip of the longitudinal write head is also made as narrow as possible so as to reduce the track width and thereby increase the track width density. Unfortunately, the reduction in the thickness of the write gap layer and the track width is limited because the bit cell is shallow and there must be sufficient bit cell volume in order to produce sufficient magnetization in the recorded disk to be read by the sensor of the read head.
In a perpendicular recording write head there is no write gap layer. The second pole piece has a pole tip with a width that defines the track width of the write head and a wider yoke portion which delivers the flux to the pole tip. At a recessed end of the pole tip the yoke flares laterally outwardly to its full width and thence to a back gap which is magnetically connected to a back gap of a first pole piece. The perpendicular write head records signals into a perpendicular recording magnetic disk which is significantly thicker than a longitudinal recording magnetic disk. In the perpendicular recording magnetic disk a soft magnetic layer underlies a thicker perpendicular recording layer which has a high saturation magnetization MS and a high coercivity HC. The thicker disk permits a larger bit cell so that the length and the width of the cell can be decreased and still provide sufficient magnetization to be read by the read head. This means that the width and the thickness or height of the pole tip at the ABS can be reduced to increase the aforementioned TPI and BPI. The magnetization of the bit cell in a perpendicular recording scheme is perpendicular to the plane of the disk as contrasted to parallel to the plane of the disk in the longitudinal recording scheme. The flux from the pole tip into the perpendicular recording magnetic disk is in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the disk, thence parallel to the plane of the disk in the aforementioned soft magnetic underlayer and thence again perpendicular to the plane of the disk into the first pole piece to complete the magnetic circuit.
Experimental evidence and modeling have shown that a trailing edge write shield improves the derivative of the head field dHy/dx and increases the longitudinal field at the writing location. These features improve transition sharpness (linear resolution) and permit higher coercive field media (improved stability). Initial discussion of a perpendicular pole head with trailing edge shields (and leading edge shields) and its advantages was published by A. S. Hoagland of IBM in “High resolution magnetic recording structures”, IBM Journal of Research and Development, 1958 (2) pp. 90–104. That head was fabricated from laminated HiMu80 sheets and hand wound coils. This would be difficult to manufacture at the dimensions needed for today's recording densities. In addition, M. Mallary obtained U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,546, “Vertical magnetic recording arrangement”, reissued as USRE 033949 for a pole head in which a single writing pole is followed by a pancake coil and a large cross-section element which serves as both a trailing shield and return pole for flux closure. This design was appropriate before magnetoresistive read heads were in common use. If a shielded magnetoresistive read head is built below the write pole in this design, undesirable writing will take place under the shields of the read head which will assume approximately the same magnetomotive potential as the writing pole. Moreover, M. Mallary, A. Torobi and M. Benakli of Maxtor described in paper WA-02 at the North American Perpendicular Magnetic Recording Conference, Jan. 9, 2002, a perpendicular pole with a trailing shield and also side shields. This head is workable with a leading magnetoresistive head structure because two pancake coils are used to ensure that the read head is at the same magnetomotive potential as the trailing shield pole and the soft underlayer of the medium. A disadvantage of this design is that it requires two pancake coils. It also requires a relatively thick return pole which will have to be made of high moment material for the desirable high write field capability, and a very narrow throat height for that element. This design will also result in write disturb of the read shields.